The Warfare

Reading to you today from the Book of Revelation chapter twelve. I'd like to fellowship with you a little more around the Word of God. You know, it's such a wonderful feeling, such great consolation to be able to fellowship around the Word of God. There's just something about it that when you learn about God's Word and the security of it, it just gives you that wonderful feeling that you need to continue through life. You know, man must have some consolation in life. He just cannot continue going through life and having no consolation. He must have some consolation through life. He just must have it. Otherwise he'll despair. Reading chapter twelve, verses one through twelve. 

[Revelation 12:1-12: "And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time."]

Now this is kind of a strange reading perhaps to many of you that is, it may be strange. But on the other hand it is a great wonderful lesson to the believer. You know we have tapes,numbers of tapes where they've recorded messages in our ministry at home and abroad and our crusades and in these we explain the mystery of the woman and many other things. But speaking to you that are throughout the world today, I'd like to take a different approach and that is I would like to think of this as the time of the coming of power into the church. The time when you receive power. You know when we speak of the church of course we think of the church as a building or something where people congregate. But lets think of the church as the human body in that it is really truthfully an individual affair. You know when it comes to salvation it's an individual affair. It's a matter of your own sovereignty and your own relationship with God. See, don't make it foreign to you, in the sense that you are just part of the congregation, but realize that God is a Spirit. John 4:24 Tells us that He is a Spirit. They that worship God must worship him in an individual manner, in spirit and in truth. See, God is interested in your spirit because God is a Spirit. The Bible says, The flesh profiteth nothing, and so then God is trying to communicate with your spirit. The body without the spirit is dead, that's very obvious because when the spirit goeth back to God who gave it the members of the body doesn't function at all. So then we know that the body without the spirit is dead therefore the body profiteth nothing. So then it is an affair between the great spirit of God and your spirit of life. Now when we think of it like that then that means that your body is the church and your spirit meets with God's Spirit inside of the little tabernacle of temple. Peter one time made the statement, As long as I am in this tabernacle. You know, he said, Someday this tabernacle will be dissolved, that is this earthly one, I'll have another body or tabernacle eternal in the heavens, that is in the spirit. This tabernacle, it's not made with hands, it is the body of the Lord. In that Paul says, When we are born again we're not our own, we're His, we're bought with a price. And he also tells us in his teachings that being the body of the Lord Jesus we are bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh, members in particular. It is not us living but Christ in that we are living the life that He give us through Calvary. Knowing this then that means that there is a continual conflict between the body and the innermost spirit in that within your flesh there dwelleth no good thing. For to will is present. The Bible says, How to perform that which is good I find not. Whereas, Paul said, As ye have had a will so have a performance. How then can I have a performance other than my faith in what Christ's performed for me during the day of His life time and pilgrimage in this world? So then He is my works. They said, What must we do to work the works of Christ? He said, This is the works of god that ye believe on Him, even Jesus whom the Father has sent. I am the finished works of God and he that believeth in what I have done in His behalf has ceased from his own struggling of self-righteousness and has entered into a rest, a confidence, with God the great Holy spirit therefore being justified freely by the love of God through faith of Jesus Christ by us believing in the finished works of our Saviour. So then, when we think of this wonderful thing God comes to communicate with us. He comes into our heart, He comes into our life, He comes into our souls, and there we find this divine communication of the great wonderful Word of understanding. Even God Himself, as He explains to us the wonderful promises that is wrought in Christ toward the Church, toward us, toward our human body, toward our human person. That is, God has given us great promises that pertain unto life. Great wonderful, eternal promises. Promises saying that I have given you all things that pertain unto life. Therefore you are my elect and who can lay anything to your charge. It is God that justifieth. Therefore who can condemn him that God has justified, or who will wrestle with God over the righteousness of an individual that has been wrought in Christ that is toward you and I. So then, we see this wonderful blessing of God We see all things that pertain unto life. We see then the problem is the accusation of the evil one that dwells within the human body. Within my flesh there is accusation. There is another law within ny body, within my members Paul said. This is a law of accusation of accusing of fault finding. I see this warring against my inner man, the law of my inner mind, which is the mind of Christ from my new birth, and I see this outward power that I cannot see with natural eyes. I see it through the eyes of my understanding warring against my innermost being. Therefore it is contrary to all that I do, and what I would do that is good I find at that very moment there's a law of evil warring against my mind to keep me from the performance. How then can I perform it? Do the very best I can. Ask for the strength of God and through the righteousness of Jesus Christ believe that He hath made up for my shortcomings and continue until I perfect my life by faith in God by growing in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord and by subduing every thought, casting down imagination and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God until I bring into captivity to the obedience of Jesus Christ and His Word every thought. So then beloved friend when we war by strength of God from within the inner man against Satan which is in the outer man we see this continual conflict between body and spirit, even as between Esau and Jacob, even as between Cain and Abel. We see this conflict so that the body which is unredeemed that is waiting for the redemption and the change of Thessalonians teachings according to Paul, the last trump when the dead in Christ shall rise and we that are alive and remain shall make that divine change from corruptible to incorruptible, from the terrestrial to the celestial. When we look at this and we understand this then we know that there is something that we can do and that's as the Bible said, He that is weak let him confess strength by Calvary and say that I am strong in the power of Christ's might, and though I stumble and though I struggle I believe in my Lord. I believe in His righteousness and I believe that I belong to God and I believe that works of righteousness was wrought in my behalf, and I am going to do the best I can and when I stumble I'm going to mend my ways and call on the name of Jesus for strength. Even as the Lord said to Peter when Peter cursed and denied then Jesus said, Peter when thou art strengthened or converted you go forth and strengthen the brethren. For I've prayed for you that your strength fail not in the time of your weakness. My strength is made perfect Paul, in the time of your weakness. It is when you are weak that you lean upon Me, and call upon Me. When you feel self-sufficient you don't relate to Me Paul, therefore it is when you are weak. Paul said, Then when I am weak then am I strong because of Jesus remember when the accuser is cast out, when you come against the accuser and you overpower him by the power of God and you don't let him reign in your mortal body and you refuse to relate to the temporal things of life and the worldly side, those things that are tangible, those things that are natural, when you refuse to let your mind be controlled by those things then you are casting out the accuser because he savors the things that be of the world. He is the prince of the this world. So beloved friend love not the world,neither the things that are in the world. Be spiritually minded, and when you are spiritually minded God will give you all of the natural things of life. All of the good things of life. He will give them to you, but not at any time will He allow you to be carnally minded. For to be worldly minded, to be carnally minded is death but to be spiritually minded is life and peace, therefore we must own the things that God gives us, use the things that God gives us, honor God with our substance, our mind, our eyes, our brains our hands, our body, all the substance that He gives us concerning the tangible matter of life, honor God with it and never put our mind and affection upon it. Let our thoughts and mind be in heaven. Our desire be in heaven. Our ambition be toward God. Be not carnally minded. Use the natural things of life, but love Jesus with all of your heart. Be spiritually minded. For to be spiritually minded is life and peace and if you follow God all of the paths of God are peace. Follow it, God will bless you all the way.

By Rev. George Leon Pike Sr.

Founder and first President of Jesus Christs Eternal Kingdom of Abundant Life, Inc.

Holiness Unto The Lord